Tenpin-setter.



J. G. MQFARLAND.

TBNPIN SETTEB. APPLIOATIORHLBD AUG. 1e. 1911.

Patented Dec. 29, 1914.v

3 SEEHTB-SHEET 1.

Wl TN E 88E 8:

wwwrun j Armen/Er C. MUFARLAND.

TENPIN SETTEB. APPLmA'JzlolsA HLED AUG. 1s, 1911.

Patented 1m29, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

/N VEN TOI? Wl T/VE SSE S:

y M M T T Ah J. C. MGFARLAND. TENPIN SETTER. APPLIGATION FILED AUG.16,1911.

l, l 2296226, Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

.vorm c; Karmann, or sromn, wasnnve'roiv. v

nizacaa To aZZ'fwhom it may concem:

Be it known that I, J om:l C. MGFARLAND, citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of,Washington, have invented 1 certain new and A useful Improvements inTenpi-Setters, of which the following is a specification.

This invention pertains to apparatus .for mechanically setting ten-pinsin .a bowling alley, for clearingl oi fallen pins, elearlng the alley ofthe pins and re-setting the same.

Other objectsand purposes will appear in the drawings land will behereinafter ex.

plained. 4 I y Most of the .work is" done by mechanical means thrown. inand out of operation with continuously moving machmer at'the will of theoperator by means of 'levers or other appliances adapted to be op-kerated with the hands or feet, the remalnder of the work being manual.but operating with mechanical'parts, TheI alley is Acleared yof downpins lay-means oflalrotating arm adjusted to. sweep'across 'thesurface'of the alley in such 'a manner as to remove all ofn the pinstherefrom, sweeping them to a .val-

ley at the rear of the alley .from whence they are conveyed' I'forre-adjustmentupon the alley floor.` The pins are re-set by beingelevated-to. a position above thealley floor and above a system ofcarriers and conveyers 'surmounted by' a funnellshaped hopper intoxwhichhopper'the ten-pins are dropped one ait a time, -and by .means'notclaimed herein operating with the law of gravity the pins pass downwardthrough the bottom of the hopper inpan upright position, thence into asystem of carriers and conveyers from whence they :are set in' dueposition upon the alley floor.; A clutching device is provided forgripping .and elevating stand; ing pins when it is desired` that" theyshould retain their positions' upon the alley loor when the rotatingarm'may 'again ,be brought into' use to clea'r the down lpins' from thealley, fthen 'the clutching device is lowered 2and the'pins'lieldlb'yi't released in their original positions. Me'ans -are alsoproyided for `thereturning '0f' llefb'alls. t'o' the front end of thealley.-

I hereb refer to .Letters-Patent Number- 975,445 of' date November15th,' 1910, i issuedto me fora ten-pin'settei whicli'includes: someofthe fundamental mechanism that will be used to* carry.toja'coinpletesucel ipecoation of Letters Iatent.

Patented Decs 29, 19M

v -alipligmnmalmuiugm1a nail serial 1ra-644,464..

the objects and but which Ij wil not aimto definitely describe here'in,nor to claim. f In the drawings Figure' 1 is a side 'elevation ofthecarriers, conveyers, hopper and elevator together, with. aportion of thedetail parts cbacting therewith anda sectional ViewA of: portions ofthealle floor and valley to the rear of .the same. ig. 2 is afront 1view of the' clutching device for-elevating and loweringstandingl pinstogether with portions Yoli the connecting mechanism. `ig. 3 islasideview of the said clutching devicev together. with portions of-tlie.con' necting. mechanism. `Fig. 4 is a-view of a purposes-fof thisinvention,

sleeve carrying a gear adapted for vconnection. .with continuouslymoving machinery,

togetherzwith a brokenaway viewota shaft and..means 92E binding andyreleasing thesleeve toa'nd from the shaft respectively. Fig.. 5 is asectional view taken on; the. line 5-5 of Fig'. 4. Eig. 6 is avdetailview of the hopper togetherwith means of operatf ing a crane connectedtherewith@ Eig. 7 .is an .enlarige'dl detail view ofmhecranegvof a;

broken-awayvview. ofthe' carriersoperating in conjunction ltherewith`.together with connecting parts, andFigt-Sgis al broken-awayplan view ofthe'carriers.:

- The valley floor 10 is .of 'usual ctnistruction land connects/with. adownwardly inelined` portionI 11S to the rear oftliesarne.'

A. downwardlyl and rearwardly: I extendingl valle'y12 at the of thealley oorlOf entends jrom.. a. position yunderneathlsthe downwardlyinclined portion 11 to theelevat'or .13 at the rear of the same.- vAmupwardly.. and rearwardly inclined. loorl: with Ii'tslo'werend' portion15, stationed apprcxinately'horizontal with tlie portionll: .and beyondthe" gulley '16' is provided with atrough .'17 arranged transversely oithe alleyl floor 10 and inclines downwardly each vw'aylA from thevcenter .thereof and connectswith the' valleys usufallyconstructedalongthesides of and longitudinallywith 'the alley iioor10,-reaching tothe rnt thereof The gulley 16 is cal-vdulateditobefof'asize to pass therethrough;

tnpinsz:18,"but to be too small `to pass'the' A `halls' 19, 'which byforce of the momentum given-'them by the thrust of the'play'er willbecarried along the alley iioorV to the rear thereof, across the gulley16, up the incline 14and mto the trough 17' 'from l'whence they win he.mma. @my alonggth:

longitudinallv arranged valleys to the front of the alley floor 10.

i The upper end 13 of the elevator sets at an angle and underneath thesame is secured a chute 20 opening into a hopper 21; connected with thelower end of the hopper-21 is a tubular crane 22 supported by the shaft23 around whichthe crane is adapted to rotate with its lower endswinging. directly over the openings into the'tubu- .larcarriers 24arranged with their top ends in a circle and the lower ends in the shapeof .a triangle, or the shape ten-pins are required to set relativelyupon an alley floor, there being as many tubes as there are pins in thegame. A conveyer' consisting of a frame 25 and asr many tubes 26 asthere are pins in the game arranged relatively to connect with the lowerends of the carriers 24 and to correspond with the required positions ofthe pins upon an alley floor is equipped with .wheels 27 adapted tofollow a track 28 arranged on an incline at the sides of the alley`floor 10 and extending backward along the sides of the carriers 24 insuch a way that the conveyer tubes 26 may be shifted from a positiondirectly-un-y derneath the carrier tubes24 to the position above thealley Hoor 10 that pins are re.

quired to be set for a game, by a process of running the conveyer caralong the track 28 and returning the same to a position unl derneath thecarrier tubes 24 by running the same upthe tracks. In Fig. 1 of thedrawings the conveyer car (consisting of the frame 25 and tubes 26) isshown in an intermediate position. l

A clutching device consisting of a frame 29 and as many pairs of jaws 30as it requires pins to play the game and relatively arranged tocorrespond with the proper positions of the pins upon the alley floor 10is secured to a horizontal rod 31 slidably adjusted by means of thebearings 32 to lthe upright supports 33.

The horizontal rod 3l is connected by the vertical rods 34 to the arms35 which in turn are rigidly secured to the shaft 36 carrying the gear37. The gear 37 'meshes with a gear 38 of twice its size, 'the latterbeing rigidly secured to the shaft 39 journaled to the uprights 33 andcarrying a sleeve 40 loosely adjusted thereto and which sleeve carriestwo gears, 41' and 42, the former being connected up with continuouslymoving machinery by means of the chain 43. A brace 44 has pivotedthereto a gravity pawl 45 and attached to the pawl 45 is a pin 46adapted for engagement with a notch 47 in a plate 48 secured to the endof the frame 49 by a hinge 50 and held in a vertical position by atension spring 51.

By means of this last described mechanism the pawl 45 is held fromengagement with the gear 42, but may be brought into enagement therewithas shown by the dotted ine 45', by' the manual drawing of the cable 52which reaches to the front end of the alley floor 10. The drawing of thecable 52 releases the pin '46 connected with the pawl 45 from thel notch47 in the plate 48, the plate being drawn away from the 'pin `whichplate is returned to its normal position by the tension spring 51 whenthe Attached horizontally to the shaft 23A are 'Reaching from the lever67 are two arms 69 and 70, theformer engaging the ratchet wheel 62 andthe latter a spring pawl 71 on the ratchet wheel 61. The shaft 63 is'journaled in the bearing 72. Pivotally secured to the bottom of theshaft 63 and to I the ring 73 of the cage 64 are normally horizontalarms 74,-one reaching into each of the carriers 24.

Pivotedto one of the uprights 33 as at 75 is a lever 76 with ahorizontal arm 77 secured to a rod 7 8, which in turn is secured to alever 79 connected to the shaft 39. Secured also to one of the uprights33 as at 80 is a lever 81 having one arm 82 engaging the upwardlyextending arm 83 of the lever 76, the other arm 84 being free. The lever.81 has a bearing upon the shaft 33 and is adapted to rock horizontallythereon.

The frame 29 of the clutching device has two sets of bars 29 and 292each carrying one of the jaws constituting the pairs 30. The half jawconnected to the bars 292 are pivoted to the bars 29 as at 85. Pivotedto the bars 292 as at 86 and passing through a bearing as at 87 on thebars 29 is a pin 88. Secured to the bars 292 is apawl 89 adapted forengagement with a lug 90 on said bars 292, the said pawl 89 having an lguasta to a rod 96 which in turn is attached tothe frame 25 of thevconveyers 26, Also attached to'the shaft94 is an arm 97 connectp ed bvthe rod 98 to the pin 99. The pin 99: carries a pawl 100 and is slidablyadjusted and 108 respectively extending across their openings at thebottom, which are secured to rods 109 andv 110 respectively, pivoted tothe sides of the tubes 24 and 26 respectively as at 111 and 112respectively.

.The shaft 92. and .the gears 41 are con` nected up..with continuouslymoving-machinery. The carrier tubes 24 and conveyer tubes 26 are.constructed of wires 113 and are calculated Ato carry the pins 18. The

' front sides 114a .of the tubes 26 are open in order to permit of theprearranged dropping out of the pins 18 as will be herein- .afterdescribed. In the use of the apparatus 'the machinery is set inoperation, the pins 18 are dropped through lthe gulley 16 into therearwardly. extending valley 12 from where they are carried by gravityto the elevator 13where.they are pickedu and. elevated through the,chute 20 to'an through .the hopper 21 to the crane 22, 'through whichthey pass/by gravity to the carrier tubes 24, Aone Vof which alwaysconnectswith the bottom .of the crane 22. When the pin-'enters the topof the carrier 24, it

- strikes the end of one of the levers 74 andby the force of itsmomentum tilts thelever to'let the pin .pass into the tube 24. The,

tilting .of the lever 74 throws upward the shaft 63, causing the uprightend 66 thereof to force upwardly the horizontal arm ofthe lever 67,which in turn -causes the upright portion of said lever. .to .Y bearinwardly against' the pin 70 forcing the pawl 71 out ofv engagement withthe ratchet.. wheel 61 and permitting' the `pressure from the 'samesource tobear against the pin 69 engaging the-ratchet wheel 62 andforcing the ratch- .et's 61 and 62 around a distance horizontallycarrying the shaft 23 and consequently the crane-22 with'them, the cranetraveling in,

a circular manner until it reaches a position over the top of another ofthe tubes 24. This-process continues as long as itis necessary to lillall of the .tubes 24.- When all of the tubes 24 are filled, the cable`52 con- 'nected to the mechanism shown in Fig. 4 and being attached tothe shaft39, is mano' ually drawn, releasing the pin 46 from the notch47 in the .plate 48 thereby .permitting the pawl 45 to engage theratchet 42 tying the shaft 94 to the moving-mechanism of the sleeve 40and the gear 41 by means of the blzwherby Lthe' shaft'isrotated, thellspectively proper positions.

arm 95 connected to the ccnveyer frame. 25 brlnging the conveyer tubesupwardly to a position directly underneath the carrier tubes 24, the lug114 at the top of the con-'- yeyer frame 25 -pressing rearward theprujectlon 121 attached Ato the rods 107 taking away the supports forthe pins whereb p1ns. 1n the carrier tubes 24 are release, andpreclpitated into the conveyer tubes 26. The continued rotation of thearm'95 carries thc conveyer 'tubes 26 forward to a position above thealley floor 10 when the lug 115 strikes against the projection 116 carrrearwardly the cross rods 108`at the bottoms of the tubes 26 taking awaythe supportsv for the pins and permitting the pins to be dropped uponthe alley :door 10 at their re-y l'.lhe above process of course iscapable-of constant repetition. While the last above process has beengoing on the arm 97 attached to the shaft 94 and connected to the pin 99has ,drawn Athe pin 99 rearward and the pawl 100` attached theretobearing against.` the shoulder 58 has forced the rod 56 rearward t@ andby means of the lever 55has rotated the upright 54 one fourth way aroundcarrying the arm 53 with 1t, whereby the alley floor is so timed thatthe alley floor is swept of,

down pins at the proper time. lVhen the top o f the pawl 10D-strikes-the lug 116 the pawl 100 is released from the shoulder 58 on the pin 57whereby by the yforce of the4 the tot

spring 117 the arm 53 and upright 54 are rotated back to the positionshown in Fig. 1. In case it is desired to remove down pins` after a ballhas been thrown the cable 52 is manually v-drawn releasing the pawl 45thereby connecting the shaft 39 with the moving mechanlsm by means ofthe gears 41 and .42 and the chain 43, whereby through the rotation ofthe arms 35 connected to the shaft 39 by means of the gears 37 and 38andthe shaft 36 the clutching device carrying the jaws 30 is lowered tothe tops of the standing pins 18. 'A

In the lowering process above mentioned,

the pin 88 strikes againstlthe arm 82 closing the jaws 30. over the'tops of the pins 18, the pawl 89 drops down behind the shoulder 90locking the jaws whereby by the continued rotation of the arm 35 vtheframe 2 9 and jaws 30 are. elevated as shown in Fig. 3

lit

carrying the standing pins with them.v

While the pins 18 are elevated the arm 102 by 'its rotation with theshaft 39 by means iso of the rod 103, pins 104 and 57, the awl 106, rod56 and lever 55 has rotate the upright 54 rotating the arm 53 across thealley loor 10 whereby the down pins are swept therefrom as hereinbeforedescribed. When the arm of the pawl 106 has struck the lug 118 the pawl106 is releasedfrom the shoulder 59 and the spring 117 rotates back theupright 54; and the arm 53 to the position shown in Fig. 2. Thecontinued rotation of the arm 35 returns the-frame 29 and jaws 30downward so as to deliventhe standing pins 18 to their proper positionsupon the alley floor 10. The rotation of the arm 79 with the shaft 39causes thelever 77 to throw the arm 84 in the path of the pawl pin 91whereby the pawl 89 is forced from its connection behind the shoulder 90and the jaws 30 are forced open by the spring 120. The continuedrotation of the arm 35 again carries the frame 29 and jaws 30 upward andthe process of removing down pins is complete. 1n the process the frame29 has to be lowered twice while the arm 53 is swung forward and backbut once, consequently the gear 37 on the shaft 36 carr mg the arm 35must be one half the size o the gear 38 on the shaft 39 carrying the arm102.

It is apparent that the relative parts must be properly timed to performthe various functions in proper order.

In playing a pins ratchet wheels 61 and' 62 can be substituted withlonger and less notches to rotate the crane 22 past the tubes 24 that itis desired should not be filled.

Balls tossed across the alley floor 10l by the force of their momentumwill be carried up the incline 14 to the trough 17 from vwhence theywill be conveyed by gravity to the valleys at the sides of the alleyfloor 10 and then to the front of the alley. The gulley 16 is made wideenough for the passage of ten pins 18 but too narrow for the passage ofballs 19, therefore the balls will pass over the same.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and useful anddesire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. In a ten pin setter, two sets of tubes one set permanently adjustedabove and near an alley floor, the other set adapted for adjustment bymechanical means from a position directly underneath the former set to aposition on the alleyfloor and to change from one position to the other,a tubular crane mounted above theirst named set of tubes connected atits upper end with a hopper land adapted for horizontalA rotation toconnect alternately at its lower end with the tops of the individualtubes composing said first set of tubes, means for rotating said craneand means for changing the pogame requiring less than ten sition: of the`second `mentioned. set of tubes from aposition directly underneath the,i former set of tubes to a position on the alley floor and'vice versa.

2. In a ten pin setter, two sets of tubes one set permanentlyadjustediabove and near an alley Hoor, the other set adapted foradjustment by mechanical means from a position directly underneath the'former set to a position, on the alley floor and to change from oneposition to the other, a tubular crane mounted above the first named setof tubes connected at' its upper end with a hopper and adapted forhorizontal rotation to connect alternately at its lower end with the Ms'of the individual tubes composing said st set of tubes, means forrotating said crane and means for changing the position of the secondmentioned set of tubes from a position directly underneath the formerset of tubes to a position on the alley Hoor and vice versa, togetherwith a frame carrying as many sets v'of jaws as there are ten pins inthe game adjustedA above the alley floor4 and adapted for ad.

-justment downward to engage the -standing ten pins in the jawsythereof, elevate the same, return the same to the alley floor andrelease the pins and return to an elevated position, an armadj-ustedhoizontally above the alley ioor adjacent thereto adapted to lrotate and sweep across the same and means for rotating the same acrossthe floor and backwhile the standing pins are being held in an elevatedposition. g

3. In a ten pin setter, two sets of tubes one set permanently adjustedabove ,an near an alley floor, the other set adapted for adjustment bymechanical means from a position directly underneath the former set to aposition on the alley floor and tochange from one position to the other,a tubular crane mounted above the first named set of tubes connected atits upper end with a hopper4 and adapted vfor horizontal rotation toconnect alternately at its lower end with the tops of the individualtubes composing said first set of tubes, means for rotating said craneand means for changinghe position of the second mentioned set of tubesvfrom a position directly underneath the former set of tubes to aposition on the alley floor Aand viceversa, together with a passage atthe rear of the alley Hoor to a downwardly and rearwardly inclined alleyreaching to 'an elevator for the conveying of ten pins to the saidhopper.

In testimony whereof I affix` my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN C. MGFARLAND. Witnesses:

Gao. E. CANFIELD, WILLIAM H. KAYE.'

